Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: Joseph and his generation die and a new Pharaoh arises who does not know him, the Egyptians afflict the people of Israel with hard labor and kill their sons, a Hebrew woman hides her son in a basket at the river, Pharaoh's daughter sees the baby and adopts him as her own and names him Moses, Moses grows up and flees Egypt after murdering an Egyptian, and God speaks to Moses in a burning bush telling him to ask Pharaoh to let His people go.
Joseph and his generation dies, and "the children of Israel [grow] fruitful and mighty, and the land [is] filled with them."
The old Pharaoh dies, and the new king does not know about Joseph. The Egyptians realize that the people of Israel are greater than they, so they decide they must "deal shrewdly with them," lest, in the event of war, they side with their enemies and leave Egypt. So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. But the Hebrews (the first time we see that name, which literally means "to pass over") grow more and more, and the Egyptians fear them and further afflict them.
Then, the king of Egypt calls the two (only two?!) Hebrew midwives and commands them to kill every Hebrew boy that is born, letting only the girls live. The women, fearing God, do not obey. When he calls them again to ask why they have not obeyed, they say it is because the Hebrew women and stronger than the Egyptian women and give birth before the midwives can arrive. Because they fear God in this way, God "provides them with households." (More on that in the thoughts and questions section at the bottom.)
So Pharaoh then commands all his people to kill every son born to the Hebrews and to throw them in the river.
A man of the house of Levi takes a daughter of Levi to be his wife, and she gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. She is able to hide him for three months, but when she cannot hide him anymore, she builds a small ark, covers it with pitch, places the baby inside, and puts it in the reeds by the river bank.
Pharaoh's daughter comes to the river with her maids to bathe, and she asks them to fetch the ark. She sees the baby. He starts crying, and she has compassion on him. She says it must be one of the Hebrew children. Moses's sister is watching nearby to see what will happen to her brother, so she asks Pharaoh's daughter if she should call a Hebrew women to nurse the baby. She calls her mother, and Pharaoh tells the woman to take the baby away to nurse. After that, little Moses is brought to Pharaoh's daughter and becomes her son, and she calls him Moses, because she "drew him out of the water."
When Moses grows up, he goes out one day to look upon the affliction of his Hebrew brothers. He sees an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man, so when he sees that no one is watching, he kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. The next day, he sees two Hebrew men fighting and tells the aggressor to stop, and the man replies, "Who made you a prince and judge over us? (ironic, because he is and will become both!) Are you going to kill us like you killed the Egyptian?" When Moses realizes that his act has become known, he becomes afraid. When Pharaoh hears of it, he seeks to kill him, so Moses flees to Midian.
In Midian, Moses is sitting by a well, and seven daughters of the priest of Midian arrive to water their father's flock. The shepherds drive them away, but Moses helps them and waters the flock. They return to their father and tell him, and he invites Moses to eat. Moses lives with the man and marries his daughter, Zipporah. They have a son named Gershom, because Moses says he is a "stranger in a foreign land."
The king of Egypt dies, and the Israelites cry out because of their bondage. Their cry comes to God, and He hears them and remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses is tending his father-in-law Jethro's flock, and he leads them to the back of the desert by Mt. Horeb, which is called the Mountain of God (a name it was given later?) The Angel of the Lord appears to Moses in a burning bush. Moses sees that a bush is burning but not being burnt up, so he goes to take a closer look. When God sees that he has taken notice, He calls out to him from the bush. "Moses, Moses!" "Here, I am!" Moses answers. God says, "Do not come near. Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." And Moses hides his face because he is afraid to look upon God. God says that He has seen the oppression of His people in Egypt, and that He has heard their cry and knows their sorrows. He tells Moses He has come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of Egypt to a good, large land, a land "flowing with milk and honey." (He also mentions the people currently living there, which is very relevant to the story in the future.) He tells Moses He will send him to Pharaoh to bring His people out of Egypt.
However, Moses answers, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (If not you, the WHO, Moses?!) God promises to be with him and even gives him a sign. The sign will be that when he brings them out, they will serve God on that very same mountain. But Moses asks what name he should give God when he speaks of Him to the people. God says, "I am Who I am, so you should say to them, 'The I Am has sent me to you.' The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever." He tells him to gather the elders together and say that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appeared to him and said that He has visited them and seen what has been done to them in Egypt, and that He will bring them up out of Egypt to the land of Canaan (He again lists all the current occupants) to a land flowing with milk and honey. He tells Moses they will listen, and that he and the elders should appear before Pharaoh with the message for God and ask him to let them go for three days in the wilderness that they may sacrifice to God in the wilderness. But God also says Pharaoh will not let them go, and that He will "stretch out [His] hand and strike Egypt with all [His] wonders," and then Pharaoh will let them go. God also says the Hebrews will have favor with the Egyptians, and that every woman should ask her neighbor for clothing and jewelry to put on their sons and daughters, thereby plundering the Egyptians.
Thoughts/Questions:
The Hebrew midwives lie to Pharaoh, and God is pleased because of their motive. This seems to be a theme throughout the Bible that I have wondered at. In Nazi Germany, when people were hiding the Jews, of course they lied to the Nazis to protect them. I don't think we think about that enough.
Likewise, why does God tell Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go in the desert for three days to sacrifice to Him when He knows that that is not His ultimate aim?
Moses must have had some confusion regarding his identity and purpose. He was raised as an Egyptian but never one, then rejected by his own people. So when God calls him, he does not even see how he has been placed in the perfect position to be used of God to bring freedom to his people. Thank God, He is patient!